She Cares For You
by goldfish400
Summary: In the novelization of the movie, Maui describes a conversation he has with Mini Maui after he leaves Moana's boat after his fish hook is cracked. Here's my interpretation of a closer look at this conversation. The sentences in italcs that act as their own paragraphs indicate Mini Maui is speaking. Moana is mentioned a lot, but she never has any speaking lines.


"Goodbye, Moana"

With that, Maui turns his back to Moana as he holds his cracked fish hook closely in his arms. Swinging it around silently, he takes the form of a hawk and flies off of her boat, flying up higher and higher into the air to drown out the sound of her trying to call him back.

She should've listened. If she had turned back when he told her to, Te Kā wouldn't have lunged after her, and he wouldn't have had to throw his fish hook in front of her to block the attack. Maui picks up his speed to try and clear his head from his thoughts.

As he gets further and further away from Te Fiti's border islands, the smog in the air begins to clear, so Maui starts to look around for an island to land on so he could collect himself and calm down. He was hoping to find one that was deserted, because the _last_ thing he needed right now was more people yanking on his ear and yelling at him to 'do the right thing'.

The only nearby island he's aware of that's deserted like that is his own, so that's the direction he heads in. He tries everything he can to get his mind off of Moana, but nothing seems to help. He had a lot of trust in her, and she didn't even trust him enough to turn the boat around when he said so.

Maui glances down when he sees something appear in the water, half expecting to find Moana in her boat trying to find her way home. Instead, he sees that it's a small island, and dives down towards the water at it. He tries to glance around the island for any sight of people, but before he can, his entire body begins to glow a bright purple and he crashes down onto the beach in his human form.

"Not _one word"_ He snaps to Mini Maui, who he catches glancing at him as he stands up to brush off some sand. He takes a quick spin around to look for his hook, and walks to it and picks it up when he sees it lying on the ground a few feet away.

Mini Maui simply crosses his arms impatiently as Maui rests his hook over his shoulder and begins to do a quick check of the area for people.

"Don't look at me like that" Maui says as he begins towards the small mountain he spotted towards the back of the island. The island was deserted, thankfully, but Maui didn't feel like wasting his hook on flying himself up to the mountain's peak in the rough condition it's already in. Mini Maui shakes his head and drops to a sitting position. Maui ignores him.

Maui approaches the mountain in silence, not sending Mini Maui so much as a glance to see what he's doing. When he finally reaches a climbable area of the mountain, Maui rubs his hands together as if he were preparing himself. Frustrated with his host's uncharacteristic silence, Mini Maui jumps to Maui's arm and begins waving his arms around frantically just as Maui jumps up to to the first foothold, catching him off guard and causing him to slip and fall.

Maui sighs heavily as he finally casts a glance to his tattoo self.

If I agree to talk to you, will you leave me alone?" He asks, and Mini Maui grins in response.

"Fine." Maui says, and he approaches the mountain again, but a small tug prevents him from doing any climbing.

"Now?" He asks in a frustrated tone and Mini Maui nods. Maui groans, and sits down where he stands.

 _You shouldn't have left her there, you know._

"Great, now you're teaming up on me too?" Maui sighs as he leans his head back against the rock. "I had no choice."

Mini Maui rolled his eyes at him.

 _That's not true. You easily could've stayed with her._

"Do you HAVE to take everything so literally? You saw what she did to my hook" Maui says, glancing down at the hook he set on the floor next to him. A few of its cracks begin to sparkle and make a crackling sound. "And don't try to tell me this wasn't her fault. I saved her life back there. The least she could've done was thank me" He picks the hook up and runs his hand over the cracks.

Mini Maui too glances down at the hook, and then glances up at Maui with a frown.

"What?" Maui asks, and Mini Maui glances back at the hook, folding his arms.

Don't you try and tell me I don't need it either. You and I both know I'm useless without this thing". He lies down on the ground.

Mini Maui pats Maui's arm reassuringly, but Maui ignores the gesture. "Think about it. Every tapestry of me, every sculpture ever built, I'm holding it in each and every one of them. If you take that away, I guarantee you won't be able to recognize it as me anymore"

Maui places the hook on the ground. "Everything I've done for mortals are because of this hook." He takes a short pause, his glaze fixed on the hook. "I wouldn't be surprised if I found out they loved it more than they loved me". He lies down on the ground, glancing up at the sky.

Mini Maui is heartbroken. He jumps to Maui's neck and embraces him.

 _That's not true. You mean so much more to them than you think._

Maui pats Mini Maui back as if hugging him back. "I find that hard to believe" He says solemnly, and he picks up the rock that was sitting near his waist. "Go on. Ask any human who I am. Moana was right. All I am to them now is 'the guy who stole the heart'". He tosses the rock into the distance. "I'll never be enough for them. _If_ they ever move on from the heart thing, they'll find something else. They always have, they always will".

Mini Maui frowns.

 _You're exaggerating._

Maui laughs bitterly. "I wish I was. There's always someone in a group who chooses to hang on to the 'bad' stuff I've done in the past. Usually it's just a small group of elders. But now?" He asks. "I wouldn't be surprised if entire villages pushed me away"

 _Don't say that. They would never do that._

"They wouldn't? Think, you're stuck on an island because the ocean's too unsafe to travel on, and one day, the person responsible shows up and tries to apologize out of nowhere? I'd drive me away if I were in their shoes. Nobody wants me around"

Mini Maui glances at his host with concern. _I know someone who wants you around._

"I know, I know" Maui says sarcastically. "You want me around. You like me. You think I'm worth it. You've told me all of this before"

Mini Maui shakes his head. _Moana does._

"Does she really, though?" Maui asks, shooting up to a sitting position. "Or does she just want someone to restore Te Fiti's heart since she couldn't do it herself?"

 _You mean a lot to her._

Maui scoffs.

 _I mean it. You're more to her than just an escort. You're her friend._

"Yeah, sure I am."

 _Would she look devastated and horrified when you were losing the fight against Tamatoa if she wasn't your friend? Would she have this look on her face that made it seem like she was ready to jump in and destroy Tamatoa herself if you were just her escort?_

"She pitied me"

 _No, she didn't. She was worried about you. You wanna know how she ended up in that cage anyways? She was trying to run to you and Tamatoa kept blocking her path._

"She…" Maui starts, but then his voice trails off as he starts to process what Mini Maui was saying. "She was?" Maui asks. He knew he had seen Tamatoa running around him in circles for some odd reason, but he never connected it to anything other than Tamatoa just trying to show off. Moana was trying to help. She was willing to throw herself in front of Tamatoa if it meant he would be safe. She could've gotten seriously hurt doing that. She could have _died_ doing that. But she did it anyways.

"Nobody's ever…done anything like that for me before" He says quietly, glancing down at himself.

 _She cares about you. You wanna know why?_

Maui doesn't respond.

 _It's because of who you are. Moana met you before you got your hook back, right? Look how close you two are now. Moana's only seen you swing it once or twice and she still looks up to you. She knows the hook doesn't defy who you are. She won't care whether you have it or not._

Maui sighs and stands, trying to process the thoughts in his head. Mini Maui was right. Even when they had first met, Moana always seemed so astounded by what he was doing, especially so in his wayfinding abilities. He laughs when he remembers how many times she had gotten up his in face begging him to teach her in the most excited voice he's ever heard.

He also began to remember the other things he and Moana had done recently. Even if he hadn't been able to use his hook, he and Moana had outrun Tamatoa. He knows that's not something everyone can do, and especially not when they're as injured as he was.

He fought the Kakamora off and kept them away from Moana's boat. Well, sort of, anyway.

He taught a stubborn daughter's chief who had never left her island to sail as well as he could. He got them all the way to Te Fiti.

Everything he's accomplished recently was because of what _he_ did. Because of _who_ he is.

He knows who he is.

He's Maui; Shapeshifter, Demigod the Wind and Sea, Hero to all.

And he's _unstoppable._

He smiles, casting a look down towards Mini Maui. "Thank you" He says, and Mini Maui sends him a smirk.

 _Isn't there someone else you should be thanking too?_

Maui pauses to ask who he's referring to, but just as he opens his mouth to respond, he thinks of Moana.

"Right, right. Of course!" He says as he bends down to pick up his hook again. He didn't exactly know where she was, but it's not like she could be very far anyway. She was probably on her way back to Motunui, which Maui is sure he could find easily if he looked.

After all, she had no reason to return back to Te Fiti, especially since she no longer had-

Maui takes a quick look around on the ground near his feet, and his stomach drops in realization.

Te Fiti's heart. He didn't have it. He forgot he had dropped it at Moana's feet before he turned around and left. Of course she would try to turn around and restore it herself if she had it. She's Moana of Motunui, and she won't take no for an answer. Maui feels like he's going to throw up. She's going to get herself killed if she tries to do this herself.

He has to go back to her. He already owes her big time for saving his life back in Lalotai. Smiling, he looks down at Mini Maui.

"You ready for this, lil buddy?" He asks, and Mini Maui responds by clapping with glee. Proudly, Maui swings his hook over his head and takes the form of a hawk, flying back in Te Fiti's direction as fast as he can to help her.

He guesses he could ramble to her about his feelings another time.


End file.
